Designing a sump for my 180 Gallon tank

[Wolfen]

Hi FISH TANK PEOPLES

i just got a 180 gallon tank with a built in overflow box and i'm asking for your help to designing a sump because i don't want to screw anything up. i need help mostly with the placement and size of the baffles.
i don't want a refugium.

something like this will work:
Example 1
Example 2

and these are my sump and tank specifications:
180 tank is 72" long X 24" tall X 24" Wide
Height of water above overflow is 1.5"
sump is 48" long x 15" X 15"

thanks for reading.
let me know if you want to know anything else

 

[jaws7777]

It really depends on how much you want the refugium. In example 1 no baffles are needed and to make life easier you can swap the foam Matt's for filter socks. Tons of diy filter socks holders out there. In my sumps I never use baffles since I don't have a need for them (no refugium) I prefer the open layout and being able to optimize the space as needed

 

[TexasMFK31]

Hi FISH TANK PEOPLES

i just got a 180 gallon tank with a built in overflow box and i'm asking for your help to designing a sump because i don't want to screw anything up. i need help mostly with the placement and size of the baffles.
i don't want a refugium.

something like this will work:
Example 1
Example 2

and these are my sump and tank specifications:
180 tank is 72" long X 24" tall X 24" Wide
Height of water above overflow is 1.5"
sump is 48" long x 15" X 15"

thanks for reading.
let me know if you want to know anything else

My vote is for example 1 and is what I intend on doing for my sump. Also, if you do glass baffles you can use Marine grade rubber stripping so your baffles aren't permanent.

https://www.amazon.com/Window-locking-windshield-windows-equipment/dp/B00NUHR70Q

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i1/Baffles/bafflesart.htm

 

[duanes]

I don't use baffles in any of my sumps, and believe they get in the way, of many changes you may make as your experience evolves, and they then become problematic..
I use filter socks for mechanical, put bio media in mesh bags, (which makes it easy to remove and rinse out).
If you want to make a section a fluidized bed, that would be an exception to me, or to cordon off a pump.
I had about 1500 gallons of tanks on 3 sumps, and decades ago used baffles, but as my understanding of the unlimited ways sumps can work in different ways I found the baffles to be space hogs, and got in the way of ease of manintanence.
Beside filtration, I use them to season media anything from buckets of substrate, to rock and wood pieces, to old floating bio wheels. Possibilities are endless if you don't restrict yourself with permanent sections.
[/URL[URL=http://s70.photobucket.com/user/dstuer/media/filtration/IMG_0102_zpsufa4xczz.jpg.html]

below is a planted sump, during a water
same sump at normal water levels
[/URL]

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Get a used 75 or 90 and set it up with filter socks. Like others mentioned, baffles are not necessary. You can just put your bio media into mesh bags and throw them into the sump. If you really want to make sure you get good surface contact with the bio media, then you can put a few powerheads in the sump to create extra water flow.

Just make sure you use filter socks. I used sponges in my setup and I have regretted it ever since. I still have plans to eventually switch over to filter socks.

 

[TexasMFK31]

Get a used 75 or 90 and set it up with filter socks. Like others mentioned, baffles are not necessary. You can just put your bio media into mesh bags and throw them into the sump. If you really want to make sure you get good surface contact with the bio media, then you can put a few powerheads in the sump to create extra water flow.

Just make sure you use filter socks. I used sponges in my setup and I have regretted it ever since. I still have plans to eventually switch over to filter socks.

I think the horizontal mat stack will work well. At least I hope so, I am planning on doing this on my sump. Maybe I should email/ask Cory with Aquarium Co Op how well it is working.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I think the horizontal mat stack will work well.

It will definitely be effective. The maintenance on it is just not as efficient. Socks can be very easily swapped out and thrown into the washing machine with bleach. They also only require a hanger while the sponges usually require some kind of barrier to keep the water flowing through them and not around them.

 

[TexasMFK31]

It will definitely be effective. The maintenance on it is just not as efficient. Socks can be very easily swapped out and thrown into the washing machine with bleach. They also only require a hanger while the sponges usually require some kind of barrier to keep the water flowing through them and not around them.

I was going to use Matala mat cut like 1/8" too wide with "coarse" pad on the 1st few pads and polishing pad on the back half. Then I just pull and replace when they get filthy.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I was going to use Matala mat cut like 1/8" too wide with "coarse" pad on the 1st few pads and polishing pad on the back half. Then I just pull and replace when they get filthy.

That sounds expensive to just keep replacing them over time. I typically pull my coarse sponges and rinse them out rather than replacing them. However, that takes time so I probably don’t do it as often as I should. Socks can be done in a few seconds.

 

[TexasMFK31]

That sounds expensive to just keep replacing them over time. I typically pull my coarse sponges and rinse them out rather than replacing them. However, that takes time so I probably don’t do it as often as I should. Socks can be done in a few seconds.

The coarser pad/mat would probably be rinsed. The finer polishing pad would be tossed, like polyfil or something of similar sense.